HERBICIDE RESISTANCE IN WEEDS

INTRODUCTION
Herbicides are the most effective and economic among the weed management practices. The advent of selective herbicides in agriculture proved a boon for weed management in various crops but soon posed the problem of spread of the natural tolerant or resistant weed species.

These resistant weed population pose today the biggest challenge to the weed scientists, the world over

MEANING
Herbicide
Resistance

Weed

What is Herbicide Resistance?

(official WSSA definition)

Inherited ability of a plant to survive and reproduce following exposure to a dose of herbicide normally lethal to

the wild type.

DEFINITION
It is the evolved capacity of a previously herbicide susceptible weed population to withstand an intended herbicide complete its life cycle when the herbicide was used at its normal rates in an agricultural situation ( Gupta ,1998) .
It is defined as the inherited ability of weed to survive a rate of herbicide which would normally give effective control( Walia ,2010).

Resistance vs Tolerance Herbicide tolerance: It is the ability of a

species to survive and reproduce after herbicide treatment. It is the ability to compensate the damaging effect of herbicides with No physiological mechanisms involved (Menalled and Dyer ,2006).

Herbicide resistance:

Refers to the inherited ability

of a weed or crop biotype to survive a herbicide application to which the original population was susceptible herbicide resistance is simply an altered response to a herbicide by a species which was earlier susceptible and it is the naturally occurring, irreversible and inheritable ability of some weed biotypes within a population (Duary and Yaduraju , 1999).

The resistance is considered as an extreme case which occurs less frequently than the herbicide tolerance. (Prado & Franco-2004)

HISTORY
Resistance of weeds to herbicides is not a unique phenomenon. Although herbicide resistance was reported as early as 1957 against 2, 4-D from Hawaii (Hilton 1957), the first confirmed report of herbicide resistance was against triazine herbicide in common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) and was reported in 1968 from U.S.A. (Ryan 1970).

CONT.
Consequently, several other reports confirmed resistance developed against dozens of other herbicides in five decades The number of resistant weed biotypes against various herbicides is on the rise since its first report . Till July 10, 2008, 319 biotypes belonging to 185 species (111 dicots and 74 monocots) have been reported resistance against various herbicides(Das,2008).

CURRENT SCENARIO
There are currently 403 unique cases (species x site of action) of herbicide resistant weeds globally, with 218 species (129 dicots and 89 monocots). Weeds have evolved resistance to 21 of the 25 known herbicide sites of action and to 148 different herbicides. Herbicide resistant weeds have been reported in 66 crops in 61 countries.(www.weedscience.org)

Table.1 list of resistant weeds

Cont

Source;www.weedscience.org

TYPES OF RESISTANCE
SINGLE HERBICIDE RESISTANCE/SIMPLE RESISTANCE Simple resistance is the resistance of a weed species due to its continuous exposure to a herbicide. it is of two kinds
a)COMPLETE/FULL RESISTANCE b) PARTIAL RESISTANCE (Rubin, 1991)

CROSS RESISTANCE
Cross resistance evolves when a weed species already resistant to a herbicide shows resistance to other herbicides of same chemical class to which it had never been exposed or it shows resistance to two or more herbicides due to single resistance mechanism.
e.g; Avena fatua resistant to difenzoquat(reported in canada) triallate is cross resistant to

It is also two kinds.

1.TARGET SITE BASED RESISTANCE Resistance to two or more herbicides of similar or dissimilargroups inhibiting the same target site due to similar target site alteration.it may occurs across herbicides of triazines ,triazinones,phenyl urea,uracils etc which inhibit photosynthesis at PSII. 2.METABOLIC RESISTANCE Resistance to two or more herbicides of similar or dissimilargroups inhibiting the same target site due to similar metabolic/degradative process and similar rate of degradation of the herbicides. e.g;phalaris minor showing resistance to isoproturon and diclofop methyl.

NEGATIVE CROSS RESISTANCE/COLLATERAL SENTITYVITY

It is the mechanism by which an individual weed resistant to one herbicide or a chemical family of herbicides shows higher susceptibility to other herbicides than its natural wild type susceptible population.This happens very frequently due to change in target enzyme. e.g;atrazine resistant biotype of Echinochloa crusagalli shows 33 & 2 times more sensitivity to fluazifop-butyl and sethoxydim respectively (Gadamaski et.al.2000).

MULTIPLE RESISTANCE
It is the resistance through which a weed species shows resistance to herbicides of different chemical classes having different mode of action by two or more distinct resistance mechanisms. e.g; Lolium rigidum against various groups of herbicides like triazines, phenyl urea, sulfonylureas, carbamate,glyphosateetc in Australia(Das,2008).

REVERSE RESISTANCE
It is the phenomenon in which weed biotypes resistant to a herbicide fall susceptible to the same herbicide if not used for a period of 7-10 years.

CO- RESISTANCE/COMPOUND RESISTANCE

It is the phenomenon in which a weed develops resistance to both mixing partner herbicides of a mixture applied concurrently. e.g; Lolium rigidum resistant to amitrole and atrazine applied concomitantly.(Yadav & Malik,2003).

DEVELOPMENT OF RESISTANCE
Continuous and repeated use of a herbicide or herbicides having same mechanism of action in intensive agriculture or horticultural system involving crop monoculture and minimum tillage have been the major causes of occurrence of herbicide resistance. It is not due to the mutation caused by the herbicide as chemical, rather resistance appears from the selection of natural mutation that exist as small fraction of population of resistant plants. . Such a minute number of resistant plants continue to grow and expand by generation over time and seasons.

RESISTANT BIOTYPE

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

MECHANISMS OF HERBICIDE RESISTANCE

Dekker and Duke (1995) broadly grouped mechanisms of herbicide in to the following two categories:

EXCLUSIONARY RESISTANCE
SITE OF ACTION OF RESISTANCE

EXCLUSIONARY RESISTANCE
This refers to those mechanism that exclude the herbicide molecule from the site of action in plants where they induce toxic response.
Such exclusion of herbicide from the site of action can be due to several reasons. such as

(a) Differential herbicide uptake: In resistant biotypes the herbicides are not taken up readily due to morphological uniqueness like over production of waxes, reduced leaf area etc. It can be differential herbicide uptake due to the morphological barrier on leaves such as extraordinarily increased waxy coating on the cuticle, hairy epidermis and low foliage number and size etc.

(b) Differential translocation:

In resistant biotypes the apoplastic (cell wall, xylem) and symplastic (plasma lemma, phloem) transport of herbicide is reduced due to different modifications. It can also be due to differential translocation whereby apoplastic (xylem tubes) or symplastic path (phloem cells) restrict or delay movement of right concentration of herbicide at the site of action. (Ozair et al. 1987).

(c) Sequestration and compartmentation:

Herbicides are sequestered in many locations before it reaches the site of action. e.g. some lipophilic herbicide may become immobilized by partitioning into lipid rich glands or oil bodies (Stegink and Vaughn 1988). Compartmentation may be either by storage of the herbicide or its metabolites in the cell vacuole or their sequestration in cells or tissue, far from the site of action
.

(d) Metabolic detoxification:

Herbicide is detoxified before it reaches the site of action at a rate sufficiently rapid that the plant is not killed. The biochemical process that detoxifies herbicides can be grouped into four major categories: oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, and conjugation. Three enzyme systems are known to be involved in resistance due to increased herbicide detoxification.

SITE OF ACTION OF RESISTANCE

(a) Altered site of action: Site of action is altered in such a way that it is no longer susceptible to the herbicide . e.g. In Lactuca sativa biotypes which are resistant to sulfonylurea herbicides, the ALS enzyme which is the site of action of herbicide is modified in such a way that herbicide can no longer bind with the enzyme and inactivate it (Eberlein et al. 1999).

(b) Overproduction of site of action:

It also happens in some cases that the site of action is

enlarged or overproduced as a result dilution effect of herbicide occurs. The applied normal rate of herbicide is unable to inactivate the entire amount of enzyme protein produced. Therefore, the extra amount of enzyme produced by the plant biotype can allow it carry on its normal metabolic activities surmounting the lethal effect of the herbicide.

Factors controlling the development of herbicide Resistance in weeds

(A)WEED FACTORS a) Initial frequency of the resistant individuals b) Selection pressure for evolution of resistant population c) Ecological/Biological fitness: Fitness measures the potential evolutionary success d) Weed reproduction, seed production, seed dormancy and germination and seed bank in the soil

SELECTION PRESSURE
Selection pressure is any mechanism which encourage dominance of one particular type of individual in a mixed population.

SELECTION FOR HERBICIDE RESISTANCE

Change in Weed Population After Extensive Use of Herbicide Effective on Weeds A and B but Weak on Weed C
80

% of population

60 40 20 0

Weed A Weed B Weed C

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

HERBICIDE CHARACTERISTIC
(a) Herbicides with highly specific mode of action (b) Herbicides metabolism (c) Long residual activity (d) Over dependence on single herbicide
(e)

Type of herbicide and its time and dose of application

CROPPING PRACTICE

(a) Tillage (b) Cropping system

Think Resistance Management

HERBICIDE MANAGEMENT
a) Stop use of herbicide to which resistant developed b) Use of alternative herbicides
c) Herbicide mixture and rotation d) Herbicide selection and application e) Use of herbicides with short residual life

PREVENTIVE METHOD

Crop rotation
Tillage practices Biological control resistant weed of

Other cultural practices :

Selection of weed competitive crop cultivars, Use of clean seed and certified seed Stale seed bed technique Closer row spacing Timely sowing and rate of seeding Good crop husbandry Soil solarization

farmers Awareness, training and Participatory approach farmers may be provided adequate training on how to monitor manage weed resistance .farmers participatory approach means farmers participation in problem solving activities planned and designed by the scientists and extension personnel

Monitoring of herbicide resistance if any:

The field must be visited regularly and weeds surviving the treatments particularly after spraying the alternative herbicides should be identified

Integrated Weed Management (IWM)

IWM strategies involving physical, chemical and biological in a integrated fashion without excessive reliance on any single method can help in successfully managing herbicide resistance while maintaining farm profitability and sustainability.
Integrated weed management is a viable strategy as it is based on the principle of using a wide range of control methods in appropriate combinations

CONCLUSION
Herbicide resistance is worldwide phenomenon and number of resistant biotypes of weeds is increasing at an alarming rate. To overcome this Over-reliance on herbicide should be

minimized and herbicide should be used integrated with other practices. Herbicide should be used in rotation or as mixture. We must keep available all other alternative tools we ever had, including the manual, cultural and other practices which should be used in an integrated manner.